Google Glass users can take photos using telekinesis

An open source app developed by East London start-up This Place has linked brain activity recording technology to the newly available Google Glass headsets, allowing users to navigate the wearable using the power of their mind alone.

By
Margi Murphy
| Jul 10, 2014

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An open source app developed by East London start-up This Place has linked brain activity recording technology to the newly available Google Glass headsets, allowing users to navigate the wearable using the power of their mind alone.

However, users will need to purchase a Neurosky headset to gain “telekinetic abilities”. The headset features bio sensors that detect differences in the brain during intense concentration and relaxation. The switch between these states dictates whether to take a picture and upload it to Twitter or Facebook through the app.

While wearing the Google Glass, app users will see a horizontal line that moves closer to the top of the screen the more they concentrate and vice versa. Once the line reaches the top of the screen, Google Glass will take a photo, and the user can repeat the process to share the image online.

Dusan Hamlin, founder and CEO of This Place, says: “Google Glass is one of the world’s most recognisable and popular pieces of wearable technology, but after getting our hands on it, the challenge of connecting it to brainwaves was one we could not resist.

“Currently, users either have to touch it or use voice commands, which are restrictive for some social situations and for users with disabilities. All we could think was: how can we make the user’s experience even better? We wanted to realise the true potential of Glass by allowing users to control it with their minds.”

Electroencephalogram (EEG), the recording of brain activity and electrocardiogram (ECG) the recording of heart rhythm technology is used in hospitals. Harnessing it and combining it with the growing wearable industry is just the start of innovative technology that could be used to help those suffering from paralysis.

Chloe Kirton, creative director at This Place, said: “While MindRDR’s current capabilities are limited to taking and sharing an image, the possibilities of Google Glass telekinesis are vast. In the future, MindRDR could give those with conditions like locked-in syndrome, severe multiple sclerosis or quadriplegia the opportunity to interact with the wider world through wearable technology like Google Glass. This Place is already in conversations with Professor Stephen Hawking, amongst others, about the possibilities MindRDR could bring as the product evolves.”